For a variety of sports and athletic purposes, handles, grips or handholds can be mounted upon a bar, shaft or rod so that they are rotatable but axially fixed relative to the bar. These handles are generally tubular and can be provided upon a weightlifting bar to flank the permanently placed, removable or adjustable disk-shaped weights. Rotation of the handle relative to the bar and the weights is important so that the weightlifter can properly grip the device and move the latter through all of the conventional weightlifting positions without excessive strain on the wrists or the hands which might ensue if the free rotation of the handle on the bar was not permitted.
In an earlier barbell, the tubular members were axially fixed to the ends of the weightlifting bar by thrusting the corresponding tube section inwardly over the end of the bar and locking it in place by a setting ring. The various methods of fixing the tube section axially included welding such ring to the stepped end of the bar, the ring having an outer diameter greater than the diameter of the bar and in such relationship to the bore of the tube section that the latter can overhang this ring and can be held in place by a cover which can be welded thereto.
This arrangement provides a permanent axial positioning of the tube section but has the disadvantage that fabrication is time-consuming and costly. Another disadvantage of this arrangement is that the portions of the tube section which engage the bar directly can wear away the bar during use and with relative rotation of the tube section and the bar.
Such damage to the bar may increase the tendency of the bar to bend at the regions at which wear ensues or may result in the tube catching on the bar so that free rotation is impeded.
In the latter case proper weightlifting procedures cannot be followed and part of the power of the weightlifter may be unused while, in the earlier case, there is a danger that the bending may render the entire apparatus useless.